A policewoman in Mexico is suspended after posing for a topless selfie in her patrol car and posting the photo on Facebook.

Nidia Garcia, who was supposed to be guarding the crime-ridden streets of Escobedo, when, wearing her police uniform, she exposed her breasts.

The image swept across Mexico after she posted it on social media and the mother-of-two was immediately relieved of her duties pending an investigation.

Outrage: Nidia Garcia has found herself at the centre of a social media storm after she posted this picture of herself, topless in a patrol vehicle while she was supposed to be on duty in the northern town of Escobedo

The suspended police officer has since been forced to take to social media once more, this time to make a grovelling apology to her bosses, the town and her family for her 'disgusting' actions

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Ms Garcia, who worked in Monterrey two hours from the Texas border, made a grovelling apology through a Facebook page.

She wrote: 'I was wrong in letting myself be photographed in my hours of work while still wearing the uniform of an officer.

'I want to ask a huge apology to the secretary of security and Justice of proximity and more to my municipality general Escobedo for this immoral act on my part.

'I feel disgusted by the great damage caused and the damage done mainly to my two daughters, followed by my husband, my parents, brothers and entire family.'

In a statement, a spokesman for the Nuevo Leon state government said: ‘She was immediately reprimanded and is currently at the mercy of the state’s internal police Honour and Justice Commission, which will be determining the next steps to be taken.'

It’s unclear whether Ms Garcia took the photo herself or was helped by a patrol partner in the vehicle.

But the fact she was in uniform, armed and on duty is the most damning reason for her suspension.

Escobedo, where Garcia patrolled before her suspension, is an industrial northern suburb of the city of Monterrey, a town heavily affected by criminal cartel activity.

It is not the first time Mexican police officers have been reprimanded with regard to incriminating photos.

In 2013 two police pilots were suspended after photos emerged of them giving joy rides to local women in official helicopters.

Dangerous: The day the story hit the local newspapers, there were three murders in Escobedo (pictured), a town just two hours from the border with Texas

On the day Ms Garcia was suspended, three people were murdered in the lawless town ruled by narcos.

The picture has divided opinion in Mexico with some seeing the funny side, while others questioned what she thought she was doing.

‘Who cares what she did if she’s not harming anyone?’ one Facebook user wondered.

But another added: ‘This is the sort of stupidity that our police get up to rather than protecting our communities from criminals.'

‘At least she won’t be out of a job,' joked another. ‘She’ll be getting a call from Playboy soon.'